Cruz
by mysticblue17
Summary: REFORMATTED.Inspired by Christina's song Cruz.Sydney decides it's time to go.Post ep11:Full Disclosure pre ep12 Crossing
1. Sydney:Cruz

Title: CRUZ  
  
By;mystic_blue17  
  
Rating: Pg-13  
  
Summary: Sydney decides it time to leave and it has repercussions .....  
  
Discalimer:I don't own anything and im making no profit from this.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
'Today is the worst day ever.' thought Sydney. 'Not only did I stay at ops three hours later today. But today three years ago I had a fight with Allison. I physically hate today'  
  
She stepped into her living room, which didn't in fact looked like it was lived in. There was barely and personal touches except the photograph of Jack and Sydney about twenty years ago. Her apartment looked like an interior decorator just finished with it. The room was decorated nicely but it was unnaturally clean. Like it was a model house on display.  
  
'How easy would it be to pack up and leave the misguided attempt at a life?' she thought as she settled down on her couch. 'There are five people who care about me tops. I mean the real me. Not Sydney the spy. Not Sydney the fighter, just Sydney the girl. Her father was almost obligated as a parent to care about her. Eric was Sydney ex-boyfriend's best friend. He was just looking out for her. Marshall was probably the purest caring Sydney had. But Marshal was having a family. And then it got tricky those three people seemed to care about her a good majority of the time. But Dixon was hot and cold. I can hardly see the man I worked with in SD-6.'  
  
'And Vaughn was on a league of his own. I know that we are still...us. I mean for months we were against protocol. Then for a couple of months we were blissfully happy. Well as happy you could be in the spy business. And *bam* back to longing glances and that stupid invisible wall was back again. That stupid invisible wall that was keeping us apart. At first that wall was SD-6 and protocol. But now it is so much smaller and at the same time so much bigger. A band of gold is separating me from Vaughn. And the more I watch him and see him with her and see him talking about her. I realize that he loves her.  
  
HE actually loves her. It's not some secret plot or some ploy to destroy everything in my life. He didn't marry her for information about something. Maybe they weren't star-crossed lovers or the perfect story for why you don't get attached to your handler like Vaughn and myself. But they have real feelings of love. And I wish I was wrong but their relationship wasn't one sided. Vaughn loves Lauren. I still can't believe it sometimes.  
  
And the worst part about the whole thing was that I couldn't imagine being with anyone else anymore. Vaughn was my second chance. Danny was my first chance but of course I screwed that up. Maybe destiny and fate were nice enough to give me a second chance. I probably would have spent the rest of my life with Danny. If lady luck was nice enough to give me a second chance it would have been Michael. And now they are giving Vaughn a second chance in Lauren. And I just can't change the fact that he is married.  
  
But back in the beginning of our experiences together, Michael Vaughn was my angel, pure and simple. He kept me sane. And I swear there was a time while I was on a mission or SD-6 or I was at home after I had to make up a lie to Francie and Will that I would consider the fact I could stop breathing. But I would get a phone call or just get some kind of thing from Vaughn. Sometime it was looking and my *new* beeper and sometimes it would be a glance at a hockey game from the TV. And the thought of him would set me on track. Some times it wasn't even the fact that if it was Vaughn. It was what he stood for. He was true to his country. He believed in making a difference in the world. And that was what got me through the day, that could make a difference.'  
  
Sydney found herself standing up and walking to her bedroom. She began to pack clothes and anything else that she wanted to keep. Well at least the things she could stand to look at. When she was done she had packed everything she wanted to keep and it fit into two duffel bags.  
  
'How sad for me.' She thought.  
  
So she brought them both out to the car. She drove to a real bank and emptied out her accounts.  
  
'By the time they notice my bank activities, I will have been long gone.' she thought. She checked her watch 'Seven o'clock...hmmm...I think that the car dealer should still be open.'  
  
Sydney took out the GPS tracker off her car she had found months ago and attached it onto another car. Sydney went to the car dealer and sold her car. She got the first car she could get. And by 8:10 she had a new car and was already on her way.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Her first destination was Santa Barbara. She rented a room in a decent business hotel and she slept for a couple hours. When she woke up, it was about eleven thirty. So she got dresses and got out of the hotel room. And she went to the nearest salon and had a new disguise on. When she was done there she had dirty blond hair.  
  
'One more thing then I'm done. I'm gone for this life and I'm free from everything.' she thought  
  
Sydney stepped into a random drug store and headed straight towards the post cards. She picked up the first one she liked. It was a photo of the beach with the restaurant in the background. She paid and left the store. She went into her room and filled it out. Barely even twenty words.. And I hopefully it would be enough for now. But I know and he knows it will never be enough.  
  
To Vaughn. I'm safe and I'm sorry it had to be this way. I'm moving on.  
  
No signature nothing they would know it was her anyways.  
  
'This is it. Goodbye to that life.'  
  
Sydney slipped the postcard into the mail chute and walked away. And that was it. She walked away from the people and anything that would have to do with the life of Sydney Bristow.  
  
She left Santa Barbara that day and kept driving till she couldn't drive anymore. And it was then that she found out what she would have known all along.  
  
Sydney Ann Bristow was a survivor.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Cruz by Christina Aguilera  
  
I'm leaving today  
  
Livin' it, leaving it to change  
  
Slowly drifting into a peaceful breeze  
  
Tongue tied and twisted are my memories  
  
Celebrating a fantasy come true  
  
Packing all my bags, finally on the move  
  
I'm leaving today  
  
Livin' it, leaving it to change  
  
As I'm driving I'm captured by the view  
  
So much beauty the road become my muse  
  
The heat is rising and my hands surfs through the wind  
  
Cool calm collected is the child that lies within see  
  
I'm leaving today  
  
Livin' it, leaving it to change  
  
I'm leaving today  
  
Livin' it, leaving it to change  
  
But somehow I miss it, I think ill really miss it one day  
  
I turn up the radio and I feel like I've never felt before  
  
Turn down the memories of yesteryears and broken dreams I bring  
  
Finally free  
  
Slowly drifting into the peaceful breeze  
  
I'm leaving today  
  
Livin' it, leaving it to change  
  
I'm leaving today  
  
Livin' it, leaving it to change  
  
I'm leaving today  
  
Livin' it, leaving it to change  
  
But somehow I miss it, I think ill really miss it  
  
one day  
  
A/n: this is it...my first ever.... this can have a sequel or it can become a series....whatever u people want more. Thanks for reading...bye.. 


	2. Vaughn:Vacaton, Maybe?

Title: CRUZ  
  
Chapter 2- Vaughn: Vacation, maybe?  
  
By;mystic_blue17  
  
Rating: Pg-13  
  
Summary: Sydney decides it time to leave and it has repercussions .....  
  
Discalimer:I don't own anything and im making no profit from this.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A small group of important people were waiting at JTF center. The meeting mostly consisted of CIA but a few of the top agents from NSA and FBI were there. This group also included Jack, Dixon, Marshal, Lauren and Michael. The meeting started at eight o'clock, it was almost eight thirty. Suddenly the door to the conference room gave away.  
  
"I'm so sorry. I was late." Said Eric as he struggled to breathe  
correctly. "You held the meeting back for me? That's nice and all but  
not necessary."  
  
"Agent Weiss, I know it was a bad flight. I was on it. But Agent  
Vaughn and I made it here on time. Couldn't you?" said Dixon almost  
embarrassed from Eric's lateness.  
  
"I know. But sir.." said Eric wanting to explain himself.  
  
"It doesn't matter anymore Agent Weiss. We didn't hold the meeting  
late for you. We are waiting for Sydney. Where is she?" said Dixon  
impatiently.  
  
"I was getting to that, sir. Syd was supposed to wake me up this  
morning that why I was late." replied Eric. "She usually wakes me up  
and we car pool but nothing today. Has anyone seen her?"  
  
Everyone shook his or her heads.  
  
"But Dixon...If Eric was supposed to get a wake up call from Sydney.  
Then where is she?" said Lauren  
  
Everyone at that point had already come to the conclusion that Sydney might MIA. It was a possibility as were so many others. In their minds what Sydney could be doing to range from her getting tortured by any number of faceless people to her crying in a dingy hotel.  
  
"Director Dixon, you said that Agent Bristow just heard about her life  
in the past two years?" said an agent from NSA.  
  
"Yes she did." Dixon's face a picture of worry for one of his closest  
friends.  
  
"May I say that, even though I am not a spy, it would be extremely  
hard to get up in the morning and come to work after all that. Maybe  
she took the day off. " the agent suggested calmly.  
  
The group seemed to take her suggestion openly. There was a good chance that what she said was correct.  
  
"Okay I would have preferred it if the key agent was here but it isn't  
unreasonable that Sydney is gone so I will conduct the debrief.  
Marshal I want you to get a lock on Syd. Her GPS should be working  
fine." Said Dixon.  
  
After hearing this everyone returned to business mode. Marshal started to work away at the computer in the conference room. And everyone else turned to his or her attention to the presentation. The air was tense. They were each afraid of what Sydney's disappearance could mean. And they were almost impatiently waiting for Marshal to announce her co ordinates.  
  
Marshal took the first opportunity he could get. "Dixon, I got a lock  
on Syd. It seems like she is on her way to Miami."  
  
"Ok watch her like a hawk Marshal. I don't want to lose that signal.  
I'm giving her the week." He returned into business mode. "Any  
questions about the briefing? You are dismissed that was it."  
  
All the agents from other branches left leaving the CIA workers in the conference room. Dixon was the first to speak up. "Jack, is something happening again that I don't know about?"  
  
"This time I am in the dark as much as you are." Jack said in his most  
calculated voice.  
  
"Marshal, did she talk to you?"  
  
"Nope.. Not me sir.. Dixon."  
  
"Carrie?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Lauren?"  
  
"No.... But I do know someone who can track her."  
  
"No." Vaughn said firmly. It was his first words after hearing Sydney  
was missing. "Sydney won't like that idea and it would probably  
backfire on us when she brings the person in after she catches your  
contact."  
  
"She won't catch him." Lauren stated confidently.  
  
"She will" Vaughn said in a flat tone. The people in the conference  
room were looking at him but still he offered no explanation. In fact  
during this entire exchange and presentation actually Vaughn's glaze  
didn't even stray from a spot on the wall.  
  
"Agent Vaughn is correct. Sydney will in all likelihood cause physical  
pain to your contact when she finds out she has a tail. And without a  
doubt, she will be angered that we put a tracker on her in the first  
place" Jack said stepping into the conversation.  
  
"For now Sydney has a week off. When the week comes to a close we will  
talk about this again." Said Dixon before he left the room. Everyone  
left too except Jack, Eric and Michael.  
  
"Was she stable last night?" asked Jack.  
  
"She seemed pretty beat. I'm pretty sure she fell asleep after I gave  
her a ride." replied Eric.  
  
"Maybe.." Jack said neutrally. "Agent Vaughn, have you spoken to my  
daughter?"  
  
Michael's glaze shifted to Jack and said angrily "I listened to your  
damn advice. I haven't talked to Sydney in weeks."  
  
"Are you sure?" asked Jack  
  
"What kind of question is that? Of course I know if I talked to  
someone or not." Michael said harshly.  
  
"Are you sure she never overheard anything?"  
  
"No, Jack, I like to think I'm better than that."  
  
"Well I don't. When it comes to your emotions you are sloppy Agent  
Vaughn." Jack said in a condescending voice.  
  
"I'm sorry. Am I missing something?" said Eric clearly puzzled but  
Michael's attitude and Jack demeanor.  
  
"I supposed you could hear this seeing as you have been with Sydney a  
lot the last couple of months. I simply advised Agent Vaughn to  
distance himself from my daughter." Said Jack as if it was nothing.  
  
"BULL!! I can't believe you two. Who do you think you are? Sydney has  
the right to choose her friends. You might not have realized this  
Jack. But before they were a couple, Sydney and Michael were friends.  
And right now that is what she needed the most. She needs that  
friendship. She may love him, Jack. Hell, he may love her too. But she  
needed to be with someone who trusted completely before. And that was  
Vaughn. Now I understand that Vaughn couldn't be with her 24/7 but it  
wasn't like she was gonna jump him. She needed Vaughn the confidante,  
not Vaughn the boyfriend. And Vaughn, what the hell? Why are you  
listening to Jack when you have always been fine with judging Sydney  
by yourself. There are so many things wrong with this that you can't  
even.... Vaughn don't you understand? Jack was driving you to do the  
same thing he did. Instead of pulling her closer after Derevko faked  
her death, he pushed her away. And that influenced her for the rest of  
her life. With those good intentions you broke her. Being abandoned  
doesn't just go away. And if I know you as well as I think you do, you  
already promised that you would be there for her forever and always.  
And you broke your promise. You broke your promise to Sydney. For  
people who claim to love her, you sure do hurt her a lot." Eric  
finally finished his rant. "Hell, I think I'll be mad at you in her  
absence. "  
  
"Ok Weiss I can handle you questioning my choices which I shouldn't  
have to justify to any one. But you cannot honestly be standing there  
questioning my feeling for Sydney. Quite honestly if you are than you  
stupider than I thought. I have proven time and time again, my  
feelings for her. I proved it when I went to SD-6 with the whole Cole  
incident. I proved it when I went to Taipei. I proved it when I asked  
her out, twice. I proved it when I went to my father's killer to make  
sure she made it out of a mission ok. I would easily kill for her. I  
have killed for her."  
  
Weiss snorted and retorted "Please...I know how that all. If I can use  
my stupid head I can recall that it was me who encouraged you to tell  
Sydney your feelings. "Weiss left the room in a huff after that.  
  
Vaughn shrugged and turned his attention to Jack. "You do realize what  
day yesterday was?"  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
"Then you realize that there is good chance that she won't be coming  
back in a week."  
  
"Yes I do Agent Vaughn. My priority as well as yours should be to  
confirm visual contact with Sydney. Contact me when you have a lead."  
  
"Of course. I hope you can say the same."  
  
"Fine" He said as he turned to leave the room.  
  
"Jack.. There is a really big train station in Miami."  
  
"Okay." Jack replied only half understanding what Michael wanted to  
get across.  
  
And with that both men left the room unhappy to say the least about this turn of events.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
As predicted by Vaughn, Sydney didn't return by the end of the week. It was the third week into Sydney's "vacation" that the CIA got their legitimate clue about her.  
  
Vaughn pulled his car into his spot and notice some stuff peeking out of his and Lauren's mailbox. He grabbed the entire load of mail and made the trek up to his place. He got to the door, slipped in his key and opened the door. And clumsily dropped the mail. Paper cascaded over the floor. 'We have to get our mail more often.' Vaughn thought. It was then that he noticed colour between all the grey and brown envelopes. He picked it up. What mail he did recollect dropped to the floor again when he said where the post card was from. Santa Barbara. He practically shaking as he flipped over the post card. When he found her found her writing he slipped to the floor. He read the message. And almost fifteen minutes after reading the message, Vaughn snapped to his senses. The post card might have her fingerprints. He had to the post card in for analyse. So he went to Ops Centre. That part wasn't too bad. But Michael kept hearing Sydney's message in his head. "I'm moving on." It was ringing in his ears. He got to the post card to Marshal and he began he analyse. Marshal was pretty excited to get a clue about Sydney's whereabouts.  
  
"Ummm...Mr. Vaughn?" said Marshal  
  
"Yeah Marshal. Are you done with the post card?"  
  
"Almost. Don't you think you should call Jack about this? "  
  
"Yeah thanks for reminding me."  
  
But the thing was that handwriting could be faked. It has been proven happened before. This could be a plant. Fingerprints could faked too. It was the message that got to Vaughn. To him it's seemed like she was running away. And that was not something Sydney Bristow would do. Michael drew a steady breath. He had to pull himself together. His phone was already connecting to Jack's.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yup I decided to make this a series at the request of a few. I hope you liked it. I have the plot for about the next 3 or 4 chapters in my head. Hey if you could review that would be grrreat!! But if not just drop me a number or letter or something to let me know if you read my story. Example: 3 then click to review. You don't have to review. I just want to know how many people are reading this. 


	3. Sydney:Travel

Title: CRUZ  
  
Chapter 3-Sydney: travel?  
  
By;mystic_blue17  
  
Rating: Pg-13  
  
Summary: Sydney decides it time to leave and it has repercussions .....  
  
Discalimer:I don't own anything and im making no profit from this.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was pretty late. She just finished a session with a criminal. It was pretty high up there. Audio surveillance and someone was even watching when they were together. It broke her oath but the Agency needed to listen in. The guy had so much to unload that the session over took some of her other appointments. There was a soft knock on the door. "Come in," she said not even glancing at the door. She picked up her notes and started to file it away. "Leslie, what did you do with the rest of my patients from today?" Leslie was her assistant.  
  
"I'm sorry. Is a bad time? I can come back later," said a soft voice from the door.  
  
Dr. Barnett finally looked up at the door. "Sydney. I'm surprised to see you here. Please have a seat."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Barnett took a seat across from Sydney. She took in her appearance. She was distinctly in her "home" clothes. And before her very eyes, Sydney Bristow started to break down.  
  
"Sydney? Do you have something talk to me about ?"  
  
"I hate this!" she yelled, her voice was so raw. It was like she was trying to hold back a dam of emotions and she just couldn't take it anymore. "Sydney.." "Everything that I can remember...it's all two years old. I still feel like it was yesterday. But it's all ruined. This world is upside down. It completely wrong." She said. "Sydney, have you ever told anyone else how you feel?" She continued on as if she didn't hear me. "I feel like there are too balls in the air... I can't keep catching them..." she sobbed, "I don't know what I'm doing anymore. But look at what this job has taken from me. And I don't know why I'm doing it. It was about finding out what happened to me. But now I know. And I'm tired." she sighed, "I can't keep fighting. I just so tired of everything."  
  
She seemed to finally slow down. She calmed down a little. Barnett opened her mouth to talk but Sydney started to talk again.  
  
"I miss Francie" she said quietly, "I was watching TV and one of her favourite shows was on. Then I remember that I can't call her and tell her to watch with me. She's dead! She's DEAD! " She said through her tears. "Will, Danny and Francie. They were all hurt and pretty much killed because they were my friends. It's all my fault," she said in a mad rush.  
  
"Sydney I understand you're upset."  
  
Sydney I understand you're upset  
  
"And Vaughn.... I can feel him all around me. I can find him everywhere. He's in everything I can see. But he's married. It's driving me insane because I know that I have to stop thinking about him. But everything around here just reminds me of him. And every time I think of the future all I can see is him with me. At night I still see our family and a white picket fence. And I can't do it anymore...all my memories are from the past...all my thoughts are of the past...I spent years fanaticizing about a life with him...And I thought it was over. It was supposed to be over. I was supposed to be able to have my happily ever after....But nooooo....it's my life so it must have another curve ball coming my way."  
  
She paused again and tried to catch her breath. She looked around the office and noticed the time.  
  
"Dr. Barnet, I'm sorry I didn't realize what time it was."  
  
"No Sydney it's fine. I'm glad to help you. You have been through a lot. That being said I want you to go home and get some rest. We'll talk in a couple days ok?"  
  
"I'm really sorry."  
  
"Don't be. I'm glad that you came to me. I'll make an appointment for you in a couple days."  
  
"Yes. Goodnight ". She said before she left the room.  
  
"Goodnight Sydney." She looked around her room and realizes that the audio surveillance had been running still been running from the patient before Sydney.  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
After leaving Santa Barbara, Sydney communicated with one her contacts. She didn't ask them for anything but the name of one of their contacts and so forth. So eventually, Sydney had her own new group of contacts. She met with most of them and assured them of her loyalty towards them as they did the same to her. So in a strange sense she had her own group of spies "under her control". But it was closer to a group of spies banding together to protect their own people.  
  
The most important thing was to understand was that Sydney wasn't running from the CIA, she had to hide for a while until the covenant was dealt with. Until that world forgot about Sydney Bristow. Without the CIA, Sydney's security was at a loss. She could protect herself against a few. But without a doubt if the covenant was to hear about Sydney all by herself in a town that the CIA didn't even know about, they would storm her house with a dozen people.  
  
The first thing she did was getting a new alias. Her new name was Sarah Samson. A nice young lady who lived in the country most of her life but moved to San Diego about 3 weeks ago. She got an apartment. It wasn't upper class but all she had was her money from Sydney Bristow's bank account. So she got a job as a personal trainer at a gym. And that was pretty big bucks for Sydney. She didn't stay there in San Diego long; it was about a month and a half. But she still kept in contact with her contacts; they set her up with an untraceable cell phone. It was under another alias that never changed.  
  
The next stop was Boston as Elaine Brown. Her contacts were more focussed on keeping her under the radar than the originality of her names. Elaine was a thirty-year-old who worked as a translator for an international client. There, Sydney had made even more contacts in the world of international business. They liked her so much that one company asked to work at their company. But Sydney soon became unsettled. She moved around to throw off any tails.  
  
She drove around blindly in her car. She travelled all around North America because she knew it was important to lose any tails. But after about 3 weeks for that, Sydney became tired of the constant moving and the take-out food.  
  
She finally deemed it okay to settle in one city. She stayed in Massachusetts because she needed someone with a strong technical background for the last step: her goodbyes. She choose a student in MIT low-key enough that no one would notice him but one of the best in his programming class. Besides everyone would thing that she would choose a professional and she could use that to her advantage. She paid for the best she could get. And all that was left was saying goodbye, actually telling them face to face that she left willing and wasn't coming back anytime soon.  
  
James was a good kid; he was probably going to get rich through programming. He didn't understand what was going on but he never really asked any questions. He helped her find a soundproof room with no windows and no proof of where they were. He gave his opinion of her appearance, as she became Sydney again. He didn't ask her any question as he saw her take off her blue contacts or put on a wig with long brown hair. He set up the room and left her alone, promising that he would be outside when she was done. She took a deep breath and fixed her wig one more time.  
  
"Hi. I though it would be ironic if I sent this to you first. I know you'll get it to Ops.....I just wanted....."  
  
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*  
  
A/N:Yes that is it for today....you will get to see what she said.....sorry about the delay I have a huge project due and I still haven't done it but whatever.  
  
If you didn't get the beginning ....Sydney went to go see Barnett before she left LA.....btw I had this thought before "after Six"...swear to my God......haha...thanks for reading...  
  
Disclaimer:I don't own alias....this applies for all chapter of the story... 


	4. Vaughn: Recordings and Missions

Title: CRUZ  
  
Chapter 4-Vaughn: recordings and missions  
  
By: mystic_blue17  
  
Rating: Pg-13  
  
Summary: Sydney decides it time to leave and it has repercussions .....  
  
Discalimer: I don't own anything and im making no profit from this.  
  
A/n for this chapter let's assume that everything has happened in episode 12-14 but without Sydney. Vaughn was captured in North Korea with another (nameless) agent. They got Lisenker and the Doleac agenda. And we can assume that things with Lauren didn't change at all.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When the post card came back from analyse, it was confirmed that it was Sydney who wrote it. It also confirmed the suspicion that Sydney had indeed left the CIA.  
  
It was hard after that. Jack was mad at everyone for a while. And when they finally tracked down her car through her GPS signal, they found out that she tagged it to someone else. It was disheartening for everyone who knew Sydney. But at the same time, part of them was glad. They were glad that Sydney is finally getting a break from the intelligence community. It would have been better if she told them, that's all.  
  
Vaughn walked around in a daze for weeks. He let her walk away from him again. He didn't fight it either. He saw that she was in pain but he didn't do anything to make it better. In fact, he went out of his way to stay away from her. It was regret that was killing him.  
  
But as always with the CIA things came up. Missions that had to be completed were usually done by Vaughn.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Vaughn was out with Weiss when he heard the news from one of his friends. He friend was from out of town. He didn't really come around to LA often so when he did they went for drinks. He started by telling them about what he had been doing for the last couple months.  
  
"Yeah, so I went back to the Farm to pass along this message between to people. And my old pal, he comes to me and he tells me. "Man, you have to hear this story." So I went with him and I followed them into one of the lecture rooms. You remember what they look like right?" they nodded "Well I'm there just in time to hear the most unbelievable story. It a good story yes but it is actually not believable. So I'm listening to the old agent speaing and he starts talking about emotional attachments. And I swear to God, I almost left the room. But my buddy told me I just had to hear this story. So I'm listening and I'm listening. And the story goes like this."  
  
"There was this agent and this handler. A guy and a girl, of course. So the girl is working undercover and they fall in love. Yay! It's not anything that hasn't happened before." he glances at Weis.  
  
He nods because it true. When you're are working with someone in the conditions that you do in this line of work. You see a side of people that can astound you and make you believe that it is love. But most of those kinds of loves don't last. That was the reason was Weiss was a little sceptical about Sydney's and Vaughn's relationship. Honestly he had to admit after all that things between them seemed very real.  
  
"So they bring down the bad guys. It 's over and they live happily ever after. Not really. These two people don't seem to get a break because the guy was taken. He was missing for a long time. He finally come back and he found out that she was married to some other guy....I mean how twisted is that?"  
  
Vaughn and Weiss looked at each other. That was Sydney and Michael's story. Some details were changed but essentially it was the same.  
  
"Are you sure you aren't too drunk man?" asked Vaughn with an uneasy smile on his face.  
  
"No. Seriously, Mike they told that story at the Farm. Crazy, isn't it?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah. Weird" replied Vaughn will a faraway tone to his voice.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next day Vaughn was on a plane to Langley and he was going to straighten out the whole thing. His friends might have had something to drink but he wasn't drunk enough to make up that story. When he got there he arranged for transport that got him to the Farm. And when he finally got there he was mad.  
  
He talked to the man in charge and asked him about the story posing as if he didn't know it was for real. The conversation went like this.  
  
"So I heard about this story you people cooked up to discourage the rookies from emotional attachment. Is it for real? This was someone's life experiences."  
  
"No, actually Agent I can't answer that for you."  
  
"Oh you better damn well tell me where you heard that. Because that story is my life experiences. I came here with the intention of doing those the quiet way but if I have to I will tear this place up." Vaughn said angrily.  
  
"What that's was you? I didn't know it was a real story. I'm sorry Agent..."  
  
"Vaughn. My name is Michael Vaughn."  
  
"Well, Agent Vaughn I don't exactly know what to do. That is a good example. But I will grant you time with the class to tell them the real version of the story if you want."  
  
"Sir, that wasn't what I planned for..."  
  
"Well you want to correct it right? So this is how you do it."  
  
So Vaughn did, he corrected he story as best as he could. He even got the Farm to stop telling it to the rookies. And they were so impress that they offered Vaughn a small side job as a trainer. He was really part time. He would fly up to the Farm once a month and lecture people for about a week. Then he would fly back to LA. It was a pretty good job and it helped pay the bills so he accepted it. So once a month he would go to the farm that is if he wasn't on a mission.  
  
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He was called into JTF at around eleven o'clock on a Saturday about a week later. He went into the briefing room and found that they were waiting for him. He nodded everyone in acknowledgement as he slipped into the closest seat, which was next to Weiss.  
  
"Now that everyone is here, we can begin. About half an hour ago, we received a package from Kendall." Filled in Dixon. "When we opened it we found a disk. We had Marshall work on it. The only problem is that it is in code. All we can see is binary code. But we can interpret the code and the first thing we got was this. " He finished speaking and gestured to Marshall. Marshall then started to type away on his computer.  
  
(a/n binary code is just zeros and ones that make up the computer language.)  
  
The screen blinked from the mandatory CIA screensaver into a video screen. The image was focused and it turned into Sydney.  
  
Vaughn took a shaky breath. There she was alive and in one piece. Sydney was looking at the camera talking; it took him a second to hear what she was saying.  
  
"I sent this to you because I knew you would get this to them. As you have doubt heard, I have taken a leave of absence, to put things lightly. I wanted to say, thank you. You told me what happened and I don't think I'll be able to repay you for that. On the disk you will find files, which have been label for the corresponding recipient. Thank you Kendal for everything. Please pass this along to LA as soon as you are finished." She pause and stepped out of the camera view and the video blinked out to nothing again.  
  
"Marshall, what can you come up with?" asked Weiss.  
  
"From what I can see, "he said scanning the binary code. "About four. Just give me one second and I should be able to crack the code."  
  
The group stared awkwardly at each other as Marshall finished hacking into the disk.  
  
"There is it. All done, hacking or as best as I can with this computer. Wow. Whoever Syd got to do the coding is impressive. I mean not as good as me but... as you know not many people are but we should look into hiring them." he paused when he saw the look on their faces "umm... there is file here for Mr. Bristow, Agent Weiss, Dixon, myself. Wait, that can't be right. I must be missing something." he said as he read the names of the files. He looked up at Vaughn.  
  
"No don't worry. I'll leave you to it." He said as he got up out of his chair.  
  
"There it is! Sorry there is a file for you Vaughn. It was just closer to the end. It looks like it was done last minute." He said with an apologetic look on his face. "Who would is going first?"  
  
"I have a meeting with the NSC. I'll see mine later." Said Weiss and shortly after that he left the room and brushed past Vaughn would was still standing by the door.  
  
"Jack would you like to go first?" asked Dixon out of respect to the older man.  
  
"Yes, actually I would." he replied.  
  
Marshall started the program up and everyone left the room.  
  
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He was surrounded by the sound of Sydney voice as the video started up.  
  
She smiled into the camera and began. "Daddy. I'm sorry it took me so long to get this message out to you but I've been busy. Hopefully busy enough that you can't find me right now. Daddy I'm so sorry it had to happen." She paused as she began to cry.  
  
"I set my goal to find out what happened to me. I did it. And now I can't be near the CIA right now. For now I have to figure out what to do with myself. I have to pull myself together. It was always the plan to leave the CIA. But I never thought I would leave like this. But I felt like this is the only way. Please forgive me Daddy. I just need to do this." She smiled through her tears  
  
"I love you dad. I'm so proud that I'm your daughter." she sniffed and smiled a genuine dimpled smile to him. She softly spoke "Bye Daddy." And with that the video blinked into black.  
  
With no one in the room, a single tear streaked down Jack Bristow's face.  
  
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The next person was Dixon. He settled down a chair and followed Marshall's direction to get to his file.  
  
Sydney's face appeared on his screen. Her eyes looked into the camera, she smiled as if she felt his concern for her."Dixon. I don't know what to say so I'm just going to drive in there. You are my partner. I will always trust you. But after finding out about the last two years of my life, I don't think I could ever feel right again if I was forced to work in the CIA."  
  
She paused and tried to keep her composure even though she was failing. "I need to come back to LA on my own term and on my own timetable. It just can't be rushed. I couldn't handle going back right now. Because honestly right now. It hurts, Dixon. It burns inside of me!" she sobbed, finally breaking down  
  
"And I can't handle it right now. And if I continued to work for you, I would put everyone around me in danger. Eventually I would hate everything that has to do with this job including you. And I just don't want to do anything right now." Tears slipped down her face quietly she seemed to have calmed down.  
  
"Take care of yourself. Please be careful. And don't forget that I'll always have your back." She finished wiping the tears off her cheeks. The screen flickered black.  
  
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The next person was Marshall. His fingers slipping automatically over the keyboard giving him access to his file.  
  
She smiled right away as soon as the camera recorded. "Marshall, I just wanted to thank you for being who you are. Don't you ever doubt yourself. You are a good person who deserves nothing but the best the world has to give. I'm so glad that you have a good future ahead of you."  
  
She paused and went on to happier things "I wanted to wish you the best for your child. And I get the feeling that Carrie is going to change her mind about some things. I didn't say anything." she smiled at him and began to laugh.  
  
"Marshall I hope my programmer gave you somewhat of a challenge because you haven't had one in a while. At least none that I have heard of." she paused  
  
"Well I just wanted to say thank you for everything. You are a truly an amazing person. Thank you for your friendship. Please pass my love along to Carrie. Bye Marshall." and that was it.  
  
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(a/n I have decided not to show Weiss' message. The chapter would be too much to write.)  
  
The last person was Vaughn. He slipped into the closest seat and booted up the computer. He typed all the appropriate passwords and gained access to the file.  
  
Sydney's image appeared on the screen. Vaughn allowed his fingers to trace her face on the screen. He took a deep breath and listened to what Sydney had left for him.  
  
"I wasn't going to leave you anything." she looked down into her lap as if she was being scolded for what she had done to Vaughn. She paused and suddenly she seemed to regain her resolve why he didn't want to leave him anything.  
  
"It's not like you have tried to at least be my friend. But you have continually pushed me away. You have flaunted your marriage with Lauren in front of me for too long." she almost yelled at the camera.  
  
She took a deep breath and continued. "But I have come to realize that it doesn't matter what happened in the past couple of months. It matters to me who you have been for me the entire time I have known you. Right now, you might be Lauren's Michael. But underneath, you will always be my Vaughn." she finished softly and tear began to fall from her eyes.  
  
"You will always be the guy who told be he had a instinct about me. And thought I didn't have a dentist for some God forsaken reason. You will always be my guardian angel. You will always be the guy at the pier stated the obvious. The person I cried to when I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. You will always be the person I turned to when there was no one else there for me. Part of me will always look at warehouses differently and I will always think of you. You will always be the guy who almost died because he wanted to help me save my nosy friend. You will always be the guy who broke into the Vatican with me even though your family is so deeply religious. It actually makes me feel bad for asking you to come with me." she paused at looked fully into the camera. Her brown eyes staring at Vaughn, in such a way, that he had to remember the things he did with her.  
  
"You're that guy that I have saved countless times. But at the end of the day it always feels like you saved me. You're the guy who tells his feeling for me through a memory of his father. And honestly I still can't comprehend how you could look at me and not see my mother. You're the only person I know that can do that. You are that guy that I literally couldn't keep my hands off after the SD-6 raid." She smiled as she recalled that memory "And for the record coming home with you was my favourite part."  
  
"And even after two years, you are still that guy whose smile made me just a little weak in the knees. And after saying that you didn't regret moving on you are still that guy who said that some things change and some things don't." she smiled but the tears began to fall faster down her face.  
  
"What I'm trying to say here Vaughn is that I know that guy is somewhere still in you. And I just wanted to let him know that I love him. And I just wanted to tell him that I'll love him for the rest of my life." she bit her lip like she didn't know what else to say. Her eyes looked into the camera and for a split second it was like she was in front of him. Her eyes searching him for a trace of the man she used to love.  
  
He wanted to yell at her "I'm here. I have always been right here." But that would be a lie. Sydney o not fall in love with the man he was today. That man would have never left her alone. Vaughn was left wondering who he should be. The Michael Lauren was accustomed to or the Vaughn Sydney knew. He barely even heard the end of Sydney message.  
  
"I guess...I'll just see you when I see you Michael Vaughn." She spoke softly and turned off the camera.  
  
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(a/n: The timeline for my story and the timeline for the show doesn't match...but I didn't realize it until about now...as I write this so forgive the timeline errors.)  
  
But it was only a couple of hours before another matter came up with. There was a bomb. And Vaughn was assigned to retrieve it. But there was a problem when Vaughn got there.  
  
When he arrived at the location, no one was there guarding the bomb. He crossed it off to luck. He went closer to the bomb and saw exactly why there had been no guards. The bomb had already been engaged. He told base ops and there was less than a minute left when Marshall finally figured out what bomb it was and how to disarm it. Marshall walked him through the steps to disable the bomb. He disabled the bomb with five seconds to spare. Vaughn was so concentrated on the bomb that he didn't even notice a second presence in the room. All he remembered was a blow to the back of his head and he fell unconscious.  
  
But what he didn't hear was Sark saying "I didn't expect to see you so soon Mr. Vaughn but now is as good as a time as any."  
  
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A/n: yes I have updated.... I hope you like it as more now. This was supposed to be two chapters but honestly it was just easier to make it one. So I hope you all had fun with the longest chapter I'm probably ever going to write.....haha....review please!! 


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